


Expertise

by sokrates_pupil



Category: Mercy Thompson Series - Patricia Briggs
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-08 22:47:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16438298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sokrates_pupil/pseuds/sokrates_pupil
Summary: Ben is a computer expert.





	Expertise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aishuu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aishuu/gifts).



> **Request** :I really love Ben's growth, and I'd love to see more of him finding his place. I'd prefer something not too dark. I really loved Ben's short story in Shifting Shadows and would love to see more of him and his IT pack, especially with Mel.
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** : I do not own these characters and make no profit by them.

Ben supposed it had been inevitable that the firm he worked for would buy out Prophet eventually. Too many of their own programmes relied on Prophet code to run properly and too many of their own programmes did _not_ run as effectively as they needed to because of preventable glitches caused by crappy code written by incompetents. The Board of Directors at Prophet had, of course, fought the takeover; but the brilliant programmer who had been behind the original programme had died of a drug overdose the previous year and the stupid hacks left running the company been unable to find a White Knight to save their over-extended asses. He had cheered when he learned the database company was now owned by his employer. He had welcomed the news Rajeev had been successful in getting a visa to work in the good ol’ US of A and would be joining the marketing team here in Washington State for the six months handover period. (Hell, he’d even bought Rajeev a celebratory coffee the day they met face-to-face for the first time in the staff canteen.) 

Something he regretted now. To the company’s delight, Rajeev had spilled the beans about Ben’s secret code writing. On the plus side, Ben had been paid a healthy thank you bonus, sufficient to buy himself a condo and decent car. On the minus side, he had been transferred to Customer Services and now spent his days helping to sort out problems for other companies that had bought _his_ programmes. Oh, for the past joy of being a DBA. 

He clicked the button that connected him to the next caller: 

“IT Customer Support – how may I help you?” 

It was not said in the happy-chappie tones Ben had been told to use - a grumpy growl was the best he could manage. But it was the approved script Winkler expected him to use. 

Ben started the usual series of questions to find out just what the dimwit on the end of the phone had screwed up this time.

Except he did not get the expected answers. And, instead of gushing thanks as he provided simple instructions any idiot should have been able to figure out for herself, _this_ customer turned snappish. 

“I appreciate _you_ are bilingual,” she said in a frosty prim voice, “but I am unilingual English-speaking only.” (She said it as if she was it was something to be proud of.) 

“So, don’t talk computerese to me because it’s _rude_ to deliberately talk to someone in a language you know that person doesn’t understand.” 

(Oh, he had a real winner on the other end of the phone this time.)

“I don’t _have_ that button on _my_ screen,” came the reply to another of his instructions. 

(Button! She didn’t even call it an icon!) 

He tried again, speaking slowly and carefully. He got a tart lecture about using professional jargon. 

“I could talk to you for hours using _my_ professional jargon if I wanted to and you wouldn’t understand a word I was saying, any more than I understand _your_ jargon. Your job is to explain it to me using _English_.” 

He gritted his teeth dumbing down his advice into words of one syllable – this one couldn’t seem to retain more than one instruction at a time. 

“Young man, I am not stupid.” 

(Really? Could have fooled him!) 

“I have a Ph.D. – do _you_ have a doctorate? No? Well, you can just get out of your head the idea this is because I’m stupid. I am very bright in my own field; but I am _not_ a computer expert. _You_ are the computer expert and I have phoned you because of that expertise, _none_ of which has been evident in this phone call.” 

Ben felt his patience fraying and waved urgently at Mel to join him before he put the caller on speaker-phone. Let _her_ translate to the sarcastic bitch (it _would_ be a woman) on the other end of the line.

Except, even with Mel’s intercession as her dulcet tones delivered his snarled instructions in soothing simple language to the caller, the problem did not resolve. 

This caller’s computer was not acting as expected. 

He asked a few more questions…got her to try a few more quick fixes…called Rajeev over to confer….

Attending the company’s quarterly staff meeting was a requirement for all, but not normally popular. Traditionally staff sickness was rife on meeting days; and there were rumours of a secret rota that listed which analysts _had_ to attend each time (sharing out the misery as they took it in turns). But when one of their own brought in a mega-contract because he had solved a security problem plaguing half the computers worldwide, no one from the analysts’ section would have missed this meeting for all the tea in china. Besides, those who had attended last time Ben made a speech remembered. 

The audience turned expectant faces toward the podium as Ben stepped up to the microphone.


End file.
